She's Like the Wind
by AkiraDawn
Summary: Cloud and Tifa haven't had much time to themselves lately. With the busy schedule of raising two children that you inherited it's hard sometimes. But the world has returned to peace time and the kids? Well, they are at a sleepover this weekend. Rated M!
1. A Busy Morning

She's Like the Wind

_Just a Fool to Believe I'd Have Anything She Needs_

Events take place post Advent Children in a peace-time world (apprx. 1 year after AC events). Rated M for a reason!

"Do you have your lunch money?" Tifa asked as she busily hurried around the apartment. It was 7:30 and these kids had to be off to school in fifteen minutes. Life had changed since peace had returned to this once apocalyptic world. The city was rebuilding and society was beginning to prosper. Jobs throughout the city had increased tremendously. Poverty rates were getting lower every day and modern medicine had eliminated epidemic outbreaks and prolonged sicknesses. There was even a chamber of commerce and a structured government reforming. It was refreshing to see people smile for once; to see them return to the streets with hope rather than despair. Seeing people bustle about as if the heartbeat of the lifestream hadn't missed a beat. Life was getting comfortable.

Since the return to a likely and predictable routine; Marlene and Denzel had been enrolled in school and were excelling. Marlene was in the 5th grade and Denzel the 4th. Between the homework, the projects, the spelling bees, the school programs, the after school functions, the delivery business and the bar; Tifa often felt overwhelmed as she had inadvertently inherited this role as a mother. She didn't ask for the responsibility of two children; it just happened that way. Thank goodness she at least had been able to hire plenty of help at the bar; thus alleviating some of her duties there. The phone rang as Tifa searched for a slip from school that had to be signed for Marlene indicating that Tifa had seen her mid-term grade reports. She found the slip only to discover that Cloud had already signed it. "When did Cloud sign this?" Tifa asked Marlene. Marlene shoved a muffin in her mouth and shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't matter." Tifa said sighing and shoving the crinkled slip into Marlene's backpack. "Denzel, do you have your lunch money?" Tifa repeated.

"Right here!" Denzel said shoving it into his pocket. "Tifa, can I take a donut on the bus?" Denzel asked.

"Sure, that's fine. Now come on we have to get downstairs! We're going to be late!" Tifa said zipping up both their backpacks and motioning them both toward the door. Her apartment above the 7th Heaven bar was a mess with paperwork and unfolded laundry. She was buried in boxes that had to be given to the postmaster who would then deliver them to Cloud who would make sure they reached their destination. The postmaster would show up at 9:00 AM this morning. Tifa rushed Marlene and Denzel out the door and down the steps to the sidewalk in front of her apartment to catch the bus that picked them up each morning. It was so refreshing to see a bus finally running. When they first started school a year ago Tifa or Cloud had to take them each day which was okay; but it was a bit of a hassle. At the time, they were the only kids to show up to the front door on a fenrir.

"Tifa! Don't forget I'm spending the night with Stella tonight!" Marlene reminded Tifa as she ran to the bus.

"Oh my gosh, I forgot. I did. I'll have your things ready for you when you get home today. Cloud will take you to her house, alright? But remember, you and Stella finish your homework before you do anything else." Tifa instructed Marlene.

"Tifa! I always finish my homework!' Marlene said laughing at her.

"I know you do." Tifa smiled and put her hands on Denzel and Marlene's heads."Alright, you two have a good day at school." Tifa said sending them off as the bus approached.

She waved to Denzel and Marlene as she added packing Marlene's little suitcase to her mental list of things to do. She watched the bus leave as she spun around and headed back up the steps of the apartment to get her day started. Once back inside the apartment; Tifa shut the door behind her and grabbed a piece of paper off the table in front of her to double check all the boxes and their addresses for accuracy. Addresses, another sign that the world as everyone knew it had become livable again. There were three times the deliveries now than there was a year ago and six times the deliveries to be made than there were two years ago. Business was booming and it was apparent every time Tifa balanced Cloud's checkbook. Financially taking care of Marlene and Denzel wasn't a problem; Tifa worried about their emotional well being since they were both orphaned and didn't really talk about their parents all that much. The silver lining through it all was that Cloud was around much more than he had ever been before. Though the deliveries had increased in volume; his job duties had changed since Cloud had other people helping him deliver now and that meant that these kids asked where he was far less often. He wasn't living with Tifa but it was damn near that and frankly Marlene and Denzel wanted it that way. Tifa assumed Cloud was at work by now. He hadn't stayed at the apartment last night but his presence was all around. He had left his phone here two days ago; his clothes were lying on the washer and the spare keys to the fenrir were somewhere underneath all these papers. Cloud had spent the past several months weaning himself away from Aerith's church and it wasn't healthy for him to be there anymore especially after confronting and dealing with so many of his own demons.

Though Cloud's life would never be as 'normal' as everyone else's had seemingly returned; it was getting more normal every day. It would have never been that way had it not been for Tifa. She had the patience of a saint with Cloud and he knew she was one of the few people who would put up with his highs and lows. It had been so hectic lately that Tifa and Cloud hadn't spent more than thirty minutes together tops. Tifa worried about him taking on too many tasks at once sometimes. She knew he thrived on stress but lately it seemed that something had been on his mind that he wasn't telling her and Tifa couldn't figure it out. She wouldn't dare ask him; she didn't talk about her own feelings that much let alone explore Cloud's. Talk about opening a can of worms. Tifa knew how much Cloud hated being alone and she wondered if maybe he had been feeling isolated lately for whatever reason. Perhaps something like that was on his mind and he just wasn't talking about it. Or maybe he had been upset because the physician had suggested an anti-depressant for Cloud and neither he nor Tifa thought it was a good idea because of the risky side-effects. Whatever the case, Tifa knew that if Cloud wanted to talk about what had been on his mind; he would.

The phone rang again but Tifa decided to let the voicemail get it. It was probably a delivery call anyway. That phone rang non-stop it seemed sometimes. Tifa let it ring and started to clean up all the papers strewn about the kitchen counter. She shredded half of them and filed the rest. Tifa stacked the boxes up beside the door so she wouldn't have to lug them any father then she had to when the postmaster arrived. The news was on the TV in the background as Tifa sat down on the couch to fold all of this laundry. Half of it was wrinkled and probably wasn't worth folding anyway. She should have just thrown it back in the dryer for a while but she hated how loud it was even though it was tucked away in a closet down the hallway. Tifa had remembered she hadn't even made the bed yet today but the sheets needed changed anyway. She didn't even want to imagine what Marlene and Denzel's rooms looked like. It was days like this that she felt like a housewife with too much work and not enough time. She wished Cloud would have taken his phone with him; she could have called and told him to bring some groceries in today. God, who would have thought two years ago that Tifa's biggest worry was getting groceries in for the next week?

Today was Tifa's 25th birthday and she hadn't planned starting her birthday running late with the kids and being knee-deep in household chores. Oh well, it was just another day; right? Tifa looked at the clock as the morning news show droned on. 8:26. She wanted to get this laundry folded and get this room clean before the postman arrived. At least she had carved out a path by moving all the boxes. Once she had all the clothes folded she took the laundry basket to the middle of the hall and left it there for the time being. It was time to vacuum and start working on Marlene's overnight suitcase. As she worked, Tifa thought about the things she needed to pack for Marlene that she thought she might need. Both Marlene and Denzel were at the age that they were spending more time with friends; having friends over and of course having sleepovers at their friends' houses. Tifa's apartment was no place for a sleepover. Even though it was a three bedroom apartment it couldn't accommodate Tifa, Cloud, Denzel, Marlene and any friends that the kids would invite over. Sleepovers were best left to those who had the room for it.

The time passed quickly and before she knew it there was a knock on the door. 9:02 AM it had to be the postmaster. Tifa set Marlene's packed suitcase down beside the couch and answered the door.

"Good morning, Tifa! How does this beautiful morning find you?" The postmaster asked happily. Tifa smiled at him.

"Well, it's a busy morning but it's a good one. I have ten packages for you. I'll help you carry them downstairs." Tifa said signing the appropriate form for the postmaster to take the packages away.

"I actually have a delivery for you first." The postmaster said handing a bouquet of flowers to Tifa. She seemed surprised by this.

"Oh my, those are beautiful." Tifa said taking the lovely bunch of yellow, white and red flowers. Tifa looked at the attached card and read it: I WOULD NEVER FORGET YOUR BIRTHDAY. SEE YOU LATER TODAY – CLOUD. Tifa laughed. She could feel her face becoming hot.

"You're blushing." The postmaster said. Tifa laughed more.

"I am…I am…it's just…well he always does something like this on my birthday but I've been so busy this morning that I hadn't even had time to think about it." Tifa said turning even redder.

"I think it's nice." The postman said smiling all over.


	2. The Sleepover

It was 2:50 PM in the afternoon. Tifa was laying on the couch reading a book. The flowers that had been delivered to her earlier that day were sitting in a vase on the table by the window. She was half asleep as she read her book but a key in the door turning it open woke her. She closed her book and laid it on the couch as she got up.

"Happy birthday." Cloud said as he came through the door. Tifa smiled.

"Thank you…for those beautiful flowers. Once again, I didn't expect it. You want something to eat?"

"No, no it's okay." Cloud walked across the room and sat with Tifa on the couch.

"So, what's been going on today?"

"Got Marlene and Denzel off to school, cleaned, got the packages sent off which I'm sure you know. Marlene is staying the night with Stella."

"Oh, yeah?" Cloud said.

"So, when are you going to teach Denzel how to ride? If he's asked you 50 times he's asked me 100." Tifa said.

"The Fenrir is too big for him. He can reach the handle bars now but his feet are far from touching the ground." Cloud said.

"He could drive it with you behind him couldn't he?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, yeah he could. He could learn the controls and how a bike handles." Cloud said.

"Maybe we could get him a bike that fits for his birthday. I'm sure we could find one even if it's a bike that needs work." Tifa suggested.

"I could get one; that's not a problem. I'll have to look into it over the next couple months." Cloud said.

"Oh, by the way he's also decided he wants a turtle. I told him if he can find a place in his room to put a terrarium he can have one." Tifa said.

"Of all the pets he picks a turtle?" Cloud said a little surprised. He always thought Denzel would maybe want a dog or a bunny.

"I guess for show and tell day another kid in his class brought his turtle in to show everyone and he thought it was really cool." Tifa explained.

"That's understandable; turtles are pretty cool." Cloud said smiling a bit.

"You know, next week we really need to decide whether or not we are going to pursue getting guardianship over Marlene and Denzel. I mean, it's not like we're going to stop taking care of them so we might as well become their legal guardians." Tifa said. Cloud shook his head.

"I agree but let's worry about that next week. It's your birthday. What do you want to do?" Cloud asked of Tifa.

"Hmm…when the kids get home I suppose you could drop Marlene off and then we could take Denzel and go to dinner somewhere." Tifa said.

"If that's what you want to do." Cloud said to her. The front door came crashing open before this conversation could go any further.

"Tifa! Tifa!" Denzel yelled running through the door. "Hi Cloud!" he said excitedly. "Since Marlene is sleeping over at Stella's tonight can I sleep over with Kai? Please?! Can I pleeeease? Kai said his dad would be okay with it." Denzel said anxiously throwing his backpack on the floor. Tifa laughed at him.

"Now hold on, hold on. Here, sit down." Tifa said sitting Denzel down between her and Cloud. Tell me and Cloud what you two did at school today?" Tifa said.

"I made you this!" Marlene said unzipping her backpack and shoving a piece of paper in Tifa's face. It was a birthday card she had made.

"Ooh, Marlene thank you. I think we'll have to put that on the refrigerator." Marlene smiled.

"These flowers are pretty." Marlene said leaning in toward the vase.

"Can I go? Can I go?" Denzel whispered.

"Well, tell us about your day at school?" Cloud said winking at him already knowing what Denzel had in his backpack. It was unsure why he knew about what was in his backpack; he just did.

"Oh! Right! Well, our teacher said to give…." Denzel dug in his backpack a moment. "….this to someone who was very special to us and I chose you, Tifa because it's your birthday!" Denzel said showing Tifa a very sad looking potted flower.

"Thank you Denzel! I think….that we should plant this in the window box…after you get back from Kai's house tomorrow!" Tifa said smiling.

"I CAN GO!? YESSSSSS!" Denzel jumped up off the couch. "I'm going to go pack right now!" Denzel said running off.

"I got an A on my spelling test today and I got to be group leader in science." Marlene told Cloud.

"That's excellent Marlene. I'm very proud of you for things like that." Cloud told her. He knew that Marlene was too smart for her own good. Not only did she have book smarts but she had street smarts too. Tifa picked up the phone and got the phonebook to look for the number to Denzel's friends' house. She thought it best to call the boy's father and make sure everything was okay. "Here, I'll talk to him. Stop doing everything; on your birthday." Cloud said taking the phone from Tifa. Kai was a classmate of Denzel's. His mother had died a few years ago and so his father was raising Kai on his own.

"Okay! I'm ready! Let's go!" Denzel said running back out of his room with a gym bag full of things. He didn't even zip it.

"Do you have your tooth brush?" Tifa asked.

"Yes!" Denzel asked.

"Change of clothes?" Tifa continued making sure Denzel had everything.

"Got it!" Denzel said.

"And your pillow?"

"Right here!" Denzel said pointing to his pillow.

"I guess you're ready to go then." Tifa said smiling at him. Cloud had hung up the phone by now with Kai's father.

"Can you take both of them or not?" Tifa asked of Cloud.

"Yes, of course I can. You two ready to go?" Cloud asked Marlene and Denzel. They both agreed excitedly that they were ready to leave.

"Come on, I'll walk downstairs with you." Tifa said getting up along with Cloud and the kids. Marlene was the first to the door. Once downstairs and on the sidewalk where Cloud had parked the Fenrir; Tifa helped pack up their things securely.

"You two be good and call if you want us to come and get you or something, okay?" Tifa said.

"We will! Don't worry about us!" Denzel said hopping on the Fenrir.

"I won't be gone long." Cloud said.

"Okay." Tifa said before turning around to go back into the apartment once more. She wanted so much to lie down on the couch with her book again. Her shoulders were killing her from lugging on the packages earlier in the day and what she really wanted to rest. Tifa noticed the bar starting to fill up as she started up the steps. It was nice to see so many patrons coming out this early on a Friday. Still yet another sign that the world had changed for the better and there was nothing wrong with a celebration. Tifa thought about dropping in just to check on things but surely the help could handle everything. They hadn't let her down yet. Although, this _was_ her birthday and there was likely a bottle of something in the bar with her name on it. She could slip in the back door quietly. She turned around in her tracks and backtracked down the few steps and made her way to the back of the building. The door was propped open and the smell of soup was coming from inside. Tifa sneaked into the hot kitchen seeing that the cook had his hands full.

"Tifa! I didn't think you were coming in today?

"I'm not. I just thought I'd stop in and get a bottle of something, something mild." Tifa said making her way to the huge refrigerator and pulling it open.

"Something mild, huh? Today's your birthday you shouldn't be drinking anything mild today!" The kitchen cook said teasing her. Tifa laughed.

"Alright, what's in here that's two steps above mild?" The cook laughed at her.

"Here, this is like grape juice with a kick in the pants. The bartender uses it to mix with so it's not going load you up if you drink half the bottle." The cook said throwing a towel over his shoulder.

"Hmm…is that something I can mix with champagne? One of the cheap champagne's. Twenty-five isn't an expensive champagne birthday." Tifa said. The cook laughed again.

"Third shelf, fifth one over. That will take the edge off but you'll be fine." Tifa smiled.

"Thanks. I'll be down tomorrow evening, okay? Have a good night." Tifa said leaving out the back door again.

"Bye Tifa! Happy birthday!" the cook called to her. Tifa headed up the stairs with the chilled bottles knowing that the cook would never steer her wrong. She was in no mood for anything strong. Tifa shoved the door open and sat the bottles on the counter as she started digging through a drawer to look for the wine corker. That would be the only way she would be getting these bottles open. Tifa noticed the answering machine blinking at the end of the counter against the wall: 13 messages. She sighed and decided to avoid all the delivery service messages for now. That should have been the last reason she needed to go exchange that champagne for vodka but she didn't. Tifa pulled the foil back and opened the so called kicked up grape juice first; popping the cork with ease. She took a marker and wrote 'Tifa's 25th birthday' on the cork and threw it in a drawer with a few other corks. Each one of them had something written on them and was special for one reason or another.

Once that bottle was opened Tifa put the champagne bottle over the sink just in case this thing exploded from being thrashed around coming up the stairs. This one was tougher to pop but she managed to do it without a mess. The pressure from popping it only hurt her shoulders that much more; reminding her of all the lifting from earlier. Tifa searched for a tall glass and filled it half and half with both liquids. She left both bottles out on the kitchen counter and took her glass to the couch where the book still waited for her. She took a sip of her beverage and lay back on the couch. The breeze felt wonderful as it came through the window. Springtime was the best time of the year as far as Tifa was concerned. Tifa's moment to herself didn't last long though. She heard the door open and Cloud's keys hit the kitchen counter as he threw them there.

"Are they all set?" Tifa asked.

"They are. Denzel and Kai and his dad are going out for pizza tonight. They are pretty excited about that. Stella's family has a pool and you can imagine where she and Marlene headed the minute Marlene got through the door." Cloud said examining the bottles on the counter. Tifa smiled.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the Mackey's had a pool. I hope I packed sunscreen for her. I don't even remember what all I put in that suitcase." Tifa said.

"You picked a weak drink for your birthday." Cloud said laughing at Tifa. God, that was such a refreshing sound. Tifa remembered a time when Cloud barely even smiled let alone laughed out loud. His smile was infectious to her and hearing Cloud laugh was a reminder that he had conquered so many personal demons. Life was finally better for him.

"Pour you some and come sit down with me." Tifa said. Cloud got a glass and did exactly as Tifa said.

"So, what do you want to do birthday girl?" Cloud asked of Tifa.

"I'm hungry. I want to eat but I don't want to cook." Tifa said.

"Do you want lobster ravioli?" Cloud asked walking in front of Tifa and sitting on the couch with her.

"Mmmm….lobster ravioli." Tifa said thinking about that delicious stuffed pasta. "No, I don't want to put out that much effort."

"But you love lobster ravioli." Cloud said.

"I do love lobster ravioli." Tifa said turning her head to face cloud.

"So, we'll get lobster ravioli. Who said anything about making it here? We can order it and have it delivered." Cloud said.

"That's why I keep you around, right there!" Tifa said jokingly pointing at Cloud. "Okay, I want lobster ravioli a loaf of their amazing bread and I want a salad with oil and vinegar. Oh, and I want an entire chocolate mousse pie but I'll share it with you." Tifa said.

"Excellent. That place had great food anyway." Cloud said dialing the number of this local restaurant. Sure the bar could have made something faster but the bar didn't have lobster ravioli. Tifa was now half-way through her drink.

"About 35 minutes." Cloud said hanging up the phone. "This is weird, when was the last you and I had more than an hour together without the kids?" Tifa laughed and sighed.

"Oh god, I don't know. I seriously cannot tell you the last time." Tifa said. There is was again, Cloud laughed at her.


	3. These Words

"This is so good. I mean this is like….like I haven't had lobster ravioli in so long good!" Tifa said as she savored the puffed pillows of pasta.

"It is really good and can you believe how much they give you at that place?" Cloud asked her. "There are at least a pound of clams in my clams with white sauce." Cloud said.

"This was such a good idea." Tifa said jamming her fork into the salad.

"This is so much better than your birthday last year." Cloud said remembering how Tifa had to work the bar overtime last year and how he was out of town for the weekend. Tifa rolled her eyes.

"Last year was so terrible! Marlene was sick and Denzel was looking after her while I was working the bar and dealing with two obnoxious drunks. Then after I finally finished the shift I smelled like liquor and sweat and poor Marlene had thrown up in the shower. Shit…last year really was bad." Tifa said laughing. Cloud laughed with her.

"And let's see…I was stuck in a hotel and whoever was staying beside me had paid a prostitute in the lobby and I had to listen to that for a good hour and a half." Cloud said shaking his head. Tifa laughed.

"How did you know he had paid for a prostitute?" Tifa asked wiping cream sauce from her mouth.

"Because he screamed out you're the cheapest whore I've ever paid for." Cloud said pulling a clam from its shell. Tifa laughed again. "I should have just changed rooms that night. The company just HAD to have a conference in the whoring district. I actually wish you could have come on that trip. Not only would we still be talking about that guy but…well it just…it would have been nice…to have you with me." Tifa smiled.

Cloud had seemed so sentimental lately and Tifa liked that. She found it to be endearing and promising that he was so sensitive these days. Cloud had been wearing his heart on his sleeve more so than usual around Tifa rather than the kids. In fact, just in the previous week Tifa came had gotten out of the shower and overhead Cloud talking to someone on his phone. She heard her name but couldn't make out the next part. But then she heard him say, she's taken my heart and she doesn't know what she's done. Tifa didn't know what to make of that and she didn't even know for sure that Cloud was talking about her but she never asked Cloud about it.

"Are you ready for chocolate mousse pie?" Tifa asked eating the last of her ravioli.

"I am. Let me get a knife. Do you want to put this salad in something for tomorrow?" Cloud asked taking her plate and his plate to the kitchen.

"Yeah, just get a plastic bowl or something." Tifa said. Cloud returned with a knife, two small plates and a bowl for the left over salad greens. Tifa scraped them into the bowl and put the lid on tightly. She set it out of the way for the time being. Tifa watched Cloud run a knife along the edge of this amazing chocolate mousse pie. Cloud shifted beautiful blue eyes on Tifa.

"Happy Birthday, baby." He said raising his eyebrows quickly and sliding this succulent pie in front of Tifa. Tifa was speechless. What the hell was that supposed to mean!? Cloud had never said anything like that to her before…ever. Tifa felt her entire body heat up suddenly. She knew she had a stupid look on her face right now as Cloud cut his own slice. It was times like this that she wished she could read his mind. Tifa tried to wipe the look off her face and sampled the first bite of the pie.

"This...is…outstanding pie." Tifa said.

"It looks delicious." Cloud said covering their pie once more with the lid that it came with. It wouldn't have to go in the fridge right now; it could wait until they were ready to clean up this table.

"If I didn't have any will power I would probably eat half of this pie by myself." Tifa said and she wasn't lying about that; she really thought she could.

"I won't judge you if you do." Cloud said. Tifa laughed.

"Don't tempt me." she said.

"Maybe I want to." Cloud said keeping his attention on the pie this time. Once again Tifa was caught off guard. It wasn't what he said; it was the way he said it. Tifa felt herself getting hot all over again. What the hell was with him? Tifa wasn't going to lie to herself; she liked the tone of his voice. She had heard it like that before but she couldn't pinpoint when. Tifa wasn't sure what to say but she knew her face felt hot. It didn't take either of them long to finish up this delicious birthday pie. The apartment had cooled down quite a bit now that the sun was sinking lower over the city. It was 7:30 and the traffic from the streets below was becoming louder the later it got. Rush hour; it was a more than welcome sound. The honking horns and freight trucks passing through was surprisingly pleasant.

"Do you think we should put this in something or can we just shove the whole thing in the fridge?" Cloud asked standing up and getting ready to take their plates to the sink.

"It's fine, just put the whole thing in the fridge. Here put the salad in there too." Tifa said handing the salad over to Cloud. With the grape-like juice and champagne on the table now; Tifa refilled her glass realizing that this bottle was nearly gone. It wasn't a worry though. Just like Cloud had said earlier; it was a weak drink. Tifa flipped through the channels of the TV as she heard Cloud run water over the dishes in the sink.

"Tifa, catch!" Cloud said turning toward Tifa and throwing a damp cloth at her to wipe the table clean. Tifa could feel the tightness in her shoulders as she reached across the glass with the cloth. She stood up and took the cloth back into the kitchen; throwing it into the sink. Tifa returned to the comfort of their couch. It had been a perfect birthday evening. Cloud turned the kitchen light out, leaving only the lamp beside the couch and the TV illuminating the room. Tifa painfully reached her arm behind her back trying to stretch her shoulder out.

"What's wrong with your back?" Cloud asked sitting beside Tifa.

"Oh it's not my back. I strained my shoulders today lifting boxes with the postmaster. We were trying to get everything loaded up too quickly. It will go away soon enough." Tifa said.

"Here, sit on the floor in front of me." Cloud told her. Tifa wasn't sure what Cloud had in mind but she did as he told her. "Alright, now back up a little." Tifa felt her heart race a little bit at the feeling of Cloud brushing her brunette hair around her shoulder to one side. She took a deep breath as she felt his fingers sink into her shoulders. The way Cloud pressed his hands into her relieved the tension immensely. That was exactly what she had needed all day. She closed her eyes and sighed at the feeling of Cloud's hands on her. Tifa wouldn't have minded if Cloud had pushed his fingers a little harder into her as she could feel the tightness releasing. Tifa opened her eyes a bit surprisingly as she felt wispy strands of blond hair on her neck. Cloud now had his head resting against hers. Tifa gasped almost inaudibly as she felt shivers overtake her body. She felt his lips on her neck. Tifa closed her eyes again slowly.

"Cloud." Her mouth formed his name but no sound escaped. He had never kissed her before and so this moment was afirst. Their relationship had been complicated and deep in the past. It was so much like a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship or even a husband/wife relationship but neither of them had ever acknowledged that. Tifa could feel her breath becoming heavier as Cloud's lips caressed her neck. Tifa relaxed the weight of her body back on his knees. She felt his lips resting on her ear.

"I have to tell you something…" Cloud said; his voice only slightly above a whisper.

"Alright." Tifa 's voice was just as gentle as she answered him.

"I've been thinking a lot lately…" Cloud kissed her again.

"I know you have…" Tifa answered. Cloud didn't say anything for a moment; he just rubbed his face against the side of Tifa's head. She wondered what had been on his mind; what was so hard for him to say to her. "Talk to me Cloud…" She trembled again as she felt warm breath on her neck. What the hell could he possibly have to tell? Was he hiding something from his past that he was just now coming to terms with? Did it go deeper than that? Did he lose his job and he was afraid to talk about it? Tifa had no idea and she was a little nervous. You never knew with Cloud. She heard him take a deep, nervous breath.

"I…" he stopped. Cloud thought he was speaking too loudly. "I'm…" he squeezed her shoulders tighter. He hadn't felt this nervous in a long, long time.

"Cloud…" Tifa said softly moving her hand over his.

"I'm…" he swallowed hard. "…just a fool to believe I'd have anything you need…but Tifa…I love you…I'm_ in _love with you…" Tifa's mouth fell open and for a brief moment she thought that maybe she might cry. She had longed to hear those words from Cloud for what seemed like ever.

"You…you what?" Tifa squeaked quietly.

"I love you…" Cloud told her again wrapping his arms around her. Tifa smiled putting both her hands on Cloud's.

"Cloud…you have everything I need." Tifa said turning her head towards Cloud's face until her lips had met his. What had been so hard about saying those three words? What was so scary about how you feel? He had to admit; he felt like the weight of the world had lifted in revealing this to her.

"I love you…Cloud. You'll never be alone again." Tifa whispered before turning around to where she could hold him.


	4. Flawlessly

Cloud could feel her breath in his face. It was comforting having Tifa this close to him. She had her arms slung over his shoulders and her forehead resting against his as he lay against the back of the couch. Cloud's hands supported her so she wouldn't fall backwards.

"I'm sorry…that I've never told you sooner." Cloud said. Tifa kissed him again; it was deep and tender.

"It's alright. Surely you knew I would always be here; even if I never heard those words from you." Tifa said.

"Yes, and that's why lately I've felt guilt…knowing that you would never leave and yet I haven't been able to get it together enough to tell you I love you. There's something else…I'm going to have the rest of my things delivered here. I'm not spending another day away from you or Marlene or Denzel anymore." Cloud said. It was obvious he had been thinking a lot lately and saying these things to Tifa wasn't easy for him; but she thought he was doing a fine job.

"I knew you were close to coming home for good." Tifa said digging her fingers into soft blond hair as Cloud kissed her again.

"No one else would be quite that understanding." Cloud said. Tifa smiled and pushed stray clumps of hair away from his eyes.

"And the irony of that is…I understand. She managed to get a smile out of Cloud now that this revelation had been made clear.

"It's funny; people ask me all the time if you're my girlfriend; if you're my wife; if those are our kids. I never give them a straight answer. I would always just change the subject." Cloud thought for a moment, mesmerized by the feeling of Tifa's hands in his hair. "You are my girlfriend…right? I mean, has that point been made clear? Tifa laughed sweetly and pushed his head in against her neck. He smelled so nice.

"Yeah, my other boyfriend won't show up until 8:30 so, I'm all yours." Tifa teased him. That got a big smile out of Cloud; even a bit of laughter. It was relief to him; a huge relief in fact. He had been stewing about this for nearly a month. Cloud had known Tifa well over 15 years and this had been the most difficult thing he had ever tried to tell her. Tifa let her hands wander down Cloud's body.

"Here, this is what I really got you for your birthday. Those flowers were just to throw you off and I thought the window needed something in it." Cloud shoved a hand into his pocket and pulled out a box about the size of an envelope. Tifa looked at the little card on top of the box. She read it: She's like the wind – graceful and shy, tormented and turbulent, beautiful and steadfast. Those were perfect words and it did describe Tifa. It was a shame Cloud didn't come up with that. He would never tell her it brought a tear to his eye when he read it. However, he did come up with the next line: I love you – Cloud. "Go ahead…open it." Cloud encouraged her. Tifa did as he instructed her. She moved the tissue paper away from the hinged box and gasped. She was speechless for a moment.

"Wha…why….wha…" was her reply.

"It's okay. They're insured, don't worry." Cloud said. Tifa still hadn't said anything. She was looking at a pair of five karat diamond stud earrings. Cloud had never done anything like this before and frankly she didn't know how to respond. As far as Tifa was concerned, she didn't deserve these and they had to have cost a small fortune.

"I've never been able to take care of you in the past the way I should have. But, I promise you. I will now." Cloud said.

"Oh my god, these are so beautiful, but Cloud…" Tifa said examining them closer.

"You deserve the best and absolutely nothing less. Each one weighs a little over two karats. That jeweler had the nerve to try and sell me quarter-karat diamond studs and my reply to him was if you knew everything I've put this woman through you would understand why five karats isn't even enough." Cloud said. Tifa laughed. She shook her head.

"Thank you…I don't know what else to say…I can't believe this." It was true Tifa had never had a birthday gift or any gift like this before. She was at a loss for words.

"When I bought these I was thinking that you could give your earrings to Marlene. She wants to get her ears pierced anyway." Cloud said.

"That's a great idea. I was about Marlene's age when I got these. It would be nice to give them to her." Tifa said taking her earrings that she had worn for years out. That was the first time they had been out in a long, long time but when Cloud removed the back clasp and pinned the first stud in her ear; it was show stopping. Once they were both in and her trademark earrings resting on the table it made her radiate.

"Wow." Cloud said. Tifa smiled. Cloud shook his head. "You're the most beautiful woman in the world."

"You're just saying that because you know I'm going to kiss you." Tifa said laying the satin box on the table behind her.

"You should see yourself." Cloud said holding her tighter against him. Tifa answered him by pressing her lips into hiss again; hotter this time. Tifa's body was on fire again but this time it wasn't a nervous heat…it was an I want you kind of heat. Tifa felt every emotion she had ever felt for Cloud come rushing to the surface at once and several of those emotions weren't exactly…clean and pure or innocent. The few relationships Cloud had poorly attempted to pursue in the past broke Tifa's heart. Maybe it was jealousy or something else but she would cry herself to sleep sometimes over them but she never told a soul. Sometimes she would even retaliate by pursuing a relationship she didn't even want to be in…just to justify the pain. But all that was in the past and that shit didn't matter anymore. What mattered now was how Cloud lost his breath as Tifa shoved her tongue in his mouth and pushed her hips into his. Tifa was normally shy and soft-spoken; but she was neither of those as she forced her hands underneath Cloud's soft cotton shirt. Their kiss was surprisingly well orchestrated for having never had their lips together before; the likely cause was the fact that this kiss was long, long overdue.

Tifa pulled her lips away breathlessly. "I'm sorry…it's just that…" Cloud didn't let her finish that sentence. He moved her body flat on the couch and pinned her underneath him. Tifa sighed and tugged at Cloud's shirt as he kissed his way up her neck. She wrapped on leg around him without even thinking; it was like a reflex. Tifa bit her lower lip gently as she felt his hands on her. She never dreamed in her life Cloud would be touching her with that much warmth and gentleness. Tifa had managed to work Cloud's shirt up around his shoulders. She didn't know why she was so eager to get him half-undressed. She must have not been thinking…with her mind. Cloud pulled away from her and pulled his shirt off the rest of the way, throwing it to the floor beneath them and resting his body on hers again. His skin was soft to the touch. Shit, Tifa had forgotten what a body he had underneath there. Tifa moaned and panted as he rubbed his body against hers. Oh god, she couldn't stand it. If she couldn't stand it she knew he couldn't.

There was no graceful transition that could be made. It just happened and it was inevitable that they wouldn't last another second on this couch. Tifa barely had time to turn the lamp off beside the couch or the TV for that matter. Cloud had her by the hand; she didn't ever remember him holding her hand but it felt so natural and so perfect. Cloud didn't push her backward, he didn't even have his hands on her; Tifa just helplessly slid into her bed. The sheer curtains fluttered in the night air as she wrapped her arms around Cloud who had the weight of himself resting on top of her. The harder Cloud rubbed his body against her the harder Tifa's breathing became. She scooted herself backward dragging Cloud with her. She felt his fingertips underneath the edge of her shirt. Tifa didn't even have to tell Cloud how much she wanted him right now. It was in the heat of her body, the heave of her chest, the flushing in her face. Tifa let her hands rise above her head as she felt her bare stomach get hit by the cool night air. Cloud had stripped her of her shirt with ease and she didn't even flinch. It was strange, this moment should have been more awkward; but it was a moment that should have already happened and perhaps that's why it was so incredibly flawless. Cloud didn't have a chance to get his hands around her back. The phone rang.

"Don't answer it." Cloud said kissing her stomach.

"I have to, what if it's one of the kids?"

"It's 9:30, it's not them." Cloud said still kissing his way up her ribcage.

"I have to get that." Tifa insisted breathlessly. She thrashed herself over toward the nightstand, slapping a hand on the lamp; searching for the knob to turn it on. She nearly broke the phone reaching for it. "Hello?" she answered it out of breath. "Eliza! Hi…."

"Hi Tifa!" the voice on the other end of the phone answered. It was the mother of Marlene's friend. "Tifa you sound out of breath."

"No, no, no, no….no…I'm….I'm fiiiiine….I'm fine." Tifa said trying to shove Cloud's face away from the top of her pants.

"Who is that?" Cloud asked her softly. Tifa put her hand up.

"Well, listen. Is Marlene allergic to coconut? I have a coconut dessert I was going to give to the girls." Eliza asked.

"What the!? _She_ could have asked Marlene that!" Cloud said pulling Tifa's pants off her hips. Tifa gasped into the phone.

"Oh my god! Is she? I didn't mean to scare you!" Eliza said.

"No, no, no….she's not…allergic…to coconut. She can have it." Tifa said still trying to unsuccessfully push Cloud away from her. This conversation wasn't going well!

"Great! Hey, what time do you want me to drop Marlene off tomorrow?" Eliza asked.

"Three! Tell her 3:00!" Cloud said louder this time.

"Sssshhhh!" Tifa held her finger up to her lips.

"No wait….five tell her five! Hold on….she can just stay there until Sunday, right?" Cloud mumbled on. "You know, she can just go to school Monday from their house can't she? We'll get Denzel in on this weekend stay too. It will just be you and me." Cloud said. Tifa buried Cloud in the nearest pillow she could find. If she didn't shut him up this conversation would end horribly.

"Whatever works for you." Tifa said trying to gain her composure without success. Tifa could feel Cloud mumble something against her stomach as he tried to work his way out from underneath this pillow.

"Alright, I'll bring her by at around 3:00, that's when I have to go do some errands anyway." Eliza said.

"Okay, great! Bye!" Tifa said quickly. She could feel Cloud's hands on her hips. God, Tifa was convinced that this little girl's mother had to think there was something wrong with her.

"Bye Tifa, see you tomorrow!" Tifa didn't wait another second. She slammed the phone back down and pulled the pillow way from Cloud again. She could have scolded him but why the hell do that? It would just waste time.

"I'm all yours now." Tifa said wrapping her arms around him again.

"Why do you take contraception?" Cloud asked noticing the packet on the nightstand beside the phone.

"It's free from the Public Health Works…why not? Besides…" Tifa moved a hand to the side of Cloud's face. "…my…incredibly…sexy boyfriend is about to get some…so those pills are a pretty damn good idea." Tifa would have never had the guts to say something like that ever before. But it was different now. She was safe now. Cloud reached over her and turned out the lamp again. Its light was harsh and unwanted. He kissed her again and slipped his hands behind her back. She arched her back making it much easier for her bra to come unclipped. Tifa expected his hands on her chest, but what she got was his tongue. Tifa let her hands travel through Cloud's hair. This feeling was so soft, so uninhibited. Cloud had absolutely no intentions of being rough with this angel in his arms.

This wasn't like it would be either Cloud or Tifa's first time but that was an even more complicated matter that frankly wasn't even worth pondering anymore. Tifa could feel Cloud's hand creeping up her leg to her thigh as she wrapped one leg around him. Of all the ways Tifa had pictured her birthday; this most definitely had not made the list. Cloud pulled his face away from her momentarily. The sound of his belt being pulled through its loop and hitting the floor was all Tifa needed to hear. She outstretched her arms, holding on tightly to this man that had once seemed so far out of reach. She could feel Cloud's breath tremble on her neck. He was stripped down to only soft flannel boxers. Tifa moved his face to meet hers. Their kiss was intense and their tongues collided as if it had happened a hundred times before. Tifa let a free hands drift down Cloud's body lower and lower. She closed her eyes and memorized his body.

In one motion and without hesitation, she felt herself become naked underneath him. Her eyes met his but she couldn't exactly see him in the darkness. Tifa didn't even realize that Cloud had somehow managed to undress completely with the same ease that he had stripped Tifa. She wasn't nervous; she wasn't even apprehensive. Tifa gritted her teeth as her fingertips pressed into Cloud's back. It wasn't her first time but shit….it had been a long time and she was being reminded of that. Cloud held on to her tighter; they needn't say a word. They way Cloud's body moved with Tifa's was enough.


	5. The Talk

If the first time had been surprisingly good; the second time was divine and the third time…was dynamite. Before surrendering to pure exhaustion, Cloud and Tifa had gone from pure and gentle to intense and dirty. It was so passionate and heated. Cloud had awoken this morning with faint pink streaks down his back but he didn't care. The marks Tifa left all over him would fade away soon enough. It was 7:30 AM. The doves were cooing outside the window and the sounds of air conditioning units and an occasional vehicle could be heard plainly through the open bedroom windows. There was a dog barking in the street and the curtains rustled against the window frame as Tifa slowly woke. She reached a hand across the bed only to realize Cloud was no longer lying beside her. The smell of coffee coming from the kitchen was a certain sign that he was up. Tifa pushed herself up and combed the floor for something to put on. She picked up the bra she was wearing yesterday but quickly decided against wearing it. She got up and went to the dresser across the room; digging through the drawer until she found what she was looking for. Tifa ran a brush through her hair. She looked in the mirror above her dresser. Cloud was right; she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Tifa never thought she was much for diamonds, but seeing these amazing stones in her ear changed that. She was scared to touch them for fear she would smudge the brilliant texture. Now dressed, she brushed the wrinkles out of her shirt. Tifa's black tank top hugged every curve of her, but it was different than what she would typically be seen wearing. It was long, the straps more narrow and cut teasingly low. The lace around the edges was a soft touch. Tifa slipped on her baggy brown gauchos and made her way to the kitchen. The coffee pot was still steaming so she knew Cloud couldn't have been up long. She walked absently into the kitchen still trying to completely wake up and poured a cup of coffee. She noticed that Cloud seemed to be watching something on the small deck attached to the apartment. Tifa took a sip from her mug before walking across the room to the sliding glass door and pulling it open. The morning breeze tossed deep brunette hair around her shoulders.

"Well, look at you beautiful." Tifa said smiling as Cloud reached his hand out to her.

"Come here, you've got to see this." Cloud said pulling Tifa onto his lap. She put her free arm behind him. "See that second floor apartment across the street? This lady has been throwing this guy's stuff out of that window for fifteen minutes…it's great. I mean…she is pissed." Cloud said. Tifa laughed.

"Are you serious? What do you think is going on?" Tifa kissed the side of his head.

"I don't know for sure. I can't make out what they're yelling at each other. But...I can tell you that there is going to be a couch hit the sidewalk any minute. I'd watch it happen, but you're too distracting…which is a very good thing." Cloud said kissing Tifa.

"Have I ever seen this shirt before?" Tifa asked touching Cloud's soft pale blue shirt. She traced her fingertips over the edge of the V at the base of his neck.

"I'm not sure. I found it in the top drawer this morning. Just so you know, I don't ever remember buying this so it may not even be mine." Cloud said. "Oh! That was a nice TV that just hit the street!" Cloud said putting his coffee mug on the floor beside him. He needed to get two arms around Tifa.

"What do you want for breakfast this morning?" Tifa asked.

"Let's make oatmeal. We haven't had that in a long time." Cloud examined Tifa's diamonds in the morning light. "Other women are going to hate you when they see how perfect those diamonds are. They'll say to themselves god, she must be with someone hot to have diamonds like those." Cloud winked at her. Tifa laughed.

"Yes, yes Cloud it will happen exactly that way; the dialogue and everything. You are right about part of that sentence…I am with someone _really _hot and these do look beautiful in the light." Cloud would have kissed her had the sound of something large coming out the window across the street not grabbed his attention.

"If I were to guess…I'd say this guy is getting thrown out." Cloud said stating the obvious.

"I can hardly figure what lead you to this conclusion." Tifa said rubbing her fingers in Cloud's hair. He put his head against her chest.

"Do you have any idea how nice that feels?" Cloud asked her.

"Considering you have one hand halfway up my shirt, I think I…get the message. You want me to go get the oatmeal out?" Tifa asked.

"I'll come with you. I just want to see if this guy fits all that crap into that cab that just pulled up. My god, his suitcase is shattered!" Cloud said as Tifa rolled off his lap. She stretched one arm over her head before opening the sliding glass door again to return to the apartment. Cloud's shirt was still lying at the bottom of the couch where it was left the night before and the near empty bottles were not even worth putting back into the refrigerator. Tifa decided she would just rinse them out later and pitch the bottles. She sat her mug on the kitchen counter and opened up a cabinet. Cloud trailed in right behind her, pulling the screen shut rather than the glass door. Cloud squeezed in behind Tifa in this small kitchen opening the refrigerator behind her.

"Do you want any juice?" Cloud asked her.

"No, thanks. There isn't any orange juice anyway. It's just those juice pouches that Denzel and Marlene take to school." Tifa said.

"Exactly! That stuff is amazing! Forget orange juice, this stuff is purple. It's supposed to be grape flavored…it doesn't taste like a grape at all." Cloud said. Tifa laughed as she measured out oats in a bowl. It was instant oatmeal so it wouldn't take long. She sat down at the counter and shoved everything toward Cloud for him to take care of the rest. "What are you looking at?" Cloud asked.

"You…and the fact that you couldn't get the straw into that juice pouch." Tifa said noticing that he had cut the corner off and poured the pouch into a glass.

"Hey, that thing is sealed over tighter than a thirty-five year old virgin! I had to cut it open." Cloud defended himself as he poured milk over the oatmeal and put it into the microwave.

"Well, the kids don't have any trouble with them. It's okay though, I love you anyway." Tifa said taking the now hot bowl of oatmeal from Cloud. She threw a handful of dried cranberries on top of it and turned the mixture over and over with her spoon.

"Speaking of them…we get them back today. Do you think we will ever again have another evening alone?" Cloud asked taking his own bowl out of the microwave. Tifa smiled.

"Of course we will. I mean, it might not be for a couple of weeks. You know what that means, right?" Tifa asked.

"I know exactly what that means...they're going to have to get more friends." Cloud said.

"Actually, I was just thinking we need to close our door from now on." She said.

"Oh…ooooh…yeah that idea makes more sense than mine." Cloud thought a moment as he aimlessly poked the spoon around in his bowl. "What if…they ask questions?" Cloud asked a bit concerned.

"What are they going to ask? I know they are smart but seriously what could they possibly ask that we can't answer." Tifa asked.

"Well, they could start with…so are you and Tifa having sex?" Cloud said.

"You know, that subject has never even come up before….ever but if it did; the answer is always no…until they are sixteen the answer is no." Tifa said. Cloud laughed.

"We'll be honest with them about everything else…except this." Cloud said.

"Oh, and about being honest with them we need to tell them today about filing for guardianship and make sure they understand what it is. We have to do that." Tifa said.

"See this is how it starts. Today we talk to them about guardianship and before you know it….it's going be the sex talk and the stay off drugs talk and the…I don't know…what are some other ways they can ruin their lives?" Cloud said. Tifa shook her head.

"You're funny." Tifa said.

"I was thinking this morning; I'll take Denzel riding today when they get home." Cloud said.

"Oh he'll be so excited!" Tifa reminded Cloud.

"Yeah, he will." Cloud said.

"You do that and I will take Marlene to get her ears pierced today. She's asked me several times if it's going to hurt." Tifa said smiling at the fact that Marlene had asked her that so many times.

"Did you tell her the first time is never pleasant?" Cloud winked at her.

"Shut up. Besides…I'm thinking _our _first time was _very_ pleasant." Tifa said.

"It was, wasn't it…I haven't told you I love you this morning. I can't let a day go by without telling you that now." Cloud said.

"Cloud, you put rocks in my ears that cost more than six months rent plus utilities at this apartment; if there's a day you don't tell me you love me…it's okay." Tifa said. The point she was really trying to make was that Cloud didn't have to prove anything to her. She knew he was hers and she didn't need any further reassurance from him. He smiled at her.

"You make me smile…that's weird…for me. I haven't had much to smile about in the past." Cloud studied her with soft blue eyes. "Thank you." Tifa put her hands on Cloud's.

"Baby…I'll spend the rest of my life…trying to make you smile every day. And if I can't do it, I hope that Marlene or Denzel can."

"That's quite the promise, Tifa." Cloud squeezed her hands tighter.

"Do you remember when you were little and you were sitting on the sidewalk with tears in your eyes? That was almost twenty years ago. You had been crying; but you didn't want anyone in the world to know. Your puppy had gotten off his leash. I had never seen a sadder little boy in all my life but when I walked up to you with a puppy in my arms…I will never forget the way you hugged that little dog. You were six years old and in that moment…I promised myself to make your face look like that every day." Tifa reminisced on their childhood that seemed so long ago.

"That dog lived to be fourteen and in all those years the only thing constant in my life besides that dog was you…of course that's the reason we're sitting here right now…because you were always constant." Cloud said. Tifa got up and walked to the other side of the kitchen counter. She hugged Cloud as tightly as she could. She let go of him and put her hands on his face while her body rested against Cloud's. Cloud traced his fingers up her arms until his fingers were interlaced with hers.

"You know we still have plenty of time before the kids come home." Cloud said standing up from the barstool where he was sitting. He hadn't let go of Tifa's hands.

"We do don't we? We should really make the most of that…" Tifa answered.


	6. Our Family

"Hey, did you have fun?" Tifa asked draping an arm around Marlene and helping get her things out of the car. Marlene shook her head yes and was smiling all over.

"We had a great time! We swam and Stella's dad cooked on the grill and we had so much fun!" Marlene said.

"Oh good, good! You go ahead upstairs, okay? Cloud's waiting on you. I'll be up in a minute. Did you thank Eliza?" Tifa asked Marlene.

"I did, but I'll thank her again." Marlene said sitting her suitcase down beside Tifa and running over to Stella's mother.

"Thank you for letting me stay with you, Eliza!" Marlene said hugging her before saying goodbye to her friend and picking up her suitcase. Marlene hurried up the stairs. Tifa smiled at Eliza, the girl's mother.

"Was she any trouble?" Tifa asked.

"Oh….oh of course not. She is welcome any time and I mean that. They had so much fun together. They were in bed by 11:30. I kept her swimsuit to wash the chlorine out. I'll send it to school with Stella." Eliza explained.

"That's fine. She won't need it unless she's at your house anyway." Tifa said.

"You have the most beautiful diamonds I have ever seen in my life! I've never noticed those before!" Eliza said examining Tifa closely. Tifa felt her face turning red.

"Oh…um…thank you…um…yeah…they were a gift…for my birthday." Tifa said nervously.

"My god…someone must love you." Eliza said. Tifa blushed again. She had no idea what to say. "Listen, thanks for letting Marlene stay with us. I have several errands to run so I better get going." Eliza said.

"It was nice seeing you again and if you ever need Stella to ride the bus home with Marlene or anything; don't hesitate, okay?" Tifa said.

"I'll keep that in mind." Eliza said. "See you soon!" Tifa waved and turned around to go back up the steps that lead to the apartment. It was a nice family and Tifa would never mind Marlene staying with them. Tifa opened the door and Marlene rushed over to her.

"Am I really getting my ears pierced today?" Marlene asked eagerly barely letting Tifa get in the door. Tifa laughed at her.

"Where did you ever hear that from?" Tifa asked hugging Marlene.

"Cloud said so!" Marlene said clinging to Tifa's hips. "And he said that I get to have your earrings!"

"Well, I'd say he's right. We'll wait until Denzel gets home and we'll go a little later, okay?" Tifa asked.

"Okay!" Marlene agreed as Tifa lead her over toward the couch. Marlene sat on the glass table in front of the couch. Denzel would certainly be home soon.

"Did you shower at Stella's house?" Tifa asked her.

"Uh huh…I took a shower when I got up this morning and Stella's mom made us lunch today." Marlene said as she picked up the plastic bag that Tifa's earrings were in. She examined them closely. "Why aren't you wearing these anymore?" Marlene asked.

"Because, Cloud got me new ones for my birthday." Tifa said. Marlene looked up from the plastic baggy she was working through her hands that held Tifa's earrings.

"Wow! Those are pretty!" Marlene said wide-eyed. "They're really sparkly!" Before Tifa or Cloud could say anything to Marlene Denzel came rushing through the door.

"Kai's dad says hi and I should come back soon. He would come up and say hi himself but his pager went off and he has to go into the office." Denzel explained dropping his bag on the floor and hurrying over to the table where Marlene sat.

"Hey, do you want me to take you riding today?" Cloud asked Denzel. Denzel had his eyes fixed on the fact that Cloud was holding Tifa's hand. He had never seen Cloud do that before.

"Really!? Are you serious!? Can we go up the scenic highway; the one that goes through the rock cliffs and along the water!?" Denzel asked excitedly. Cloud smiled at him.

"We can go that way and I'll take you over by Zack's grave site again." Cloud reassured him.

"I'll go get my gloves!" Denzel said hopping up from the table and getting ready to take off to his room.

"Wait, wait…Tifa and I need to talk to you and Marlene." Cloud said putting his hands on Denzel's shoulders and shoving him back down on the table. Cloud looked at Tifa wanting her approval; as if he really needed it. "Listen, I know…I haven't always been here for you or you, Marlene and I certainly haven't been around for Tifa but um…" Cloud stopped there. He had shifted his eyes to the carpet. Tifa let go of his hand and put her arm around Cloud. Why was confronting his own mistakes so hard for him? It wasn't like Marlene and Denzel were holding anything against him "…okay…what I'm trying to tell you is that…well I'm going to be here for you every day."

"You mean you're not leaving us anymore like you used to?" Marlene asked.

"We never knew when you were going to come back." Denzel added. Tifa didn't say anything because it was true; she couldn't come to Cloud's defense.

"Well, now you're going to know where I am all the time. I'm moving in for good." Cloud reassured Denzel. Marlene and Denzel's faces lit up. Marlene didn't say anything; she just threw her arms around Cloud. It was strange for him; after all Barret _was_ her adopted father and the man meant well…but the truth was Marlene loved Cloud more. For a brief moment, Tifa thought Denzel was going to cry…and he did a little. Tifa wasn't sure who needed her more right now; Cloud or Denzel.

"There's something else…next week; Monday actually, Cloud and I are going to file for guardianship of you two." Tifa said.

"Do you know what that is?" Cloud asked both Denzel and Marlene.

"I know! It's like you're our parents, like when dad adopted me but he isn't really my dad." Marlene said.

"That's right, that's what guardianship is." Cloud said.

"Marlene…we know that Barret is your father and everything but…we just…don't think his situation is healthy for you. He is always, _always _going to be your father but he thinks it's best if you live with us." Tifa explained hoping that Marlene wouldn't think that Barret was abandoning her. It was true that Barret hadn't even seen his adopted daughter in nearly two months. He was just too consumed with his own motivations. Marlene let go of Cloud and sat back on the table.

"I know my dad's never here. It makes me sad sometimes but I don't want to think about that. Hey! This means Denzel is kind of like my brother, doesn't it?' Marlene asked smiling and looking at Denzel.

"It does." She answered Marlene.

"Does this mean I can put your name on the chaperone list for our class trip to the observatory?!" Denzel asked Cloud excitedly. It was the first thing he had said since all this news hit him and frankly Denzel needed stability more than Marlene. Denzel had lost both his parents those few years ago and this news that Cloud and Tifa had shared with him was better than any birthday or any surprise could ever be. Tifa laughed at him.

"Denzel!" she said shaking her head. Cloud laughed.

"No! Don't you even put my name on that list!" Cloud said adamantly.

"It will be fun, don't worry! You won't have to deal with anyone stupid! It will just be me and Kai and Kai's dad. I can get it to be just us!" Denzel said anxiously.

"That's your selling point?" Cloud asked him.

"We don't have to ride the bus! I could drive the Fenrir and you could help me!" Denzel said. Tifa thought this was hilarious; though it feasibly could happen.

"Denzel! Your feet don't even reach the ground!" Marlene reminded him.

"Marlene!" Denzel said putting a hand over Marlene's mouth.

"You know Cloud, I went to the chocobo farm, the class picnic at the Heights, the track and field day and me and Marlene made ninety no-bake cookies for the bake sale which left this kitchen looking like a bomb exploded. Now I'm not keeping score but that's four, zero…me." Cloud just looked at Tifa knowing she was right…god was she a thousand times right. He couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Alright…sign me up on your teacher's list when you go to school Monday." Cloud said giving in to this field trip that would certainly be horrible. "Go get your gloves and your glasses and we'll leave." Denzel couldn't have been any happier as he hurried out of the room to get ready to ride.

"We'll leave when they do, okay?" Tifa asked Marlene as she ran her finger over a stain on Marlene's dress.

"Okay." Marlene answered her.

"How long are you and Denzel going to be gone? I probably should go make some money at the bar tonight." Tifa said. It was nice that the hired help in the bar had taken quite a burden off Tifa. When she worked the bar she would easily make 70 gil in tips in less than an hour. If she worked four hours she could make the same money as three days worth of the delivery serive. The bar was a gold mine; especially on a Saturday night.

"We won't be gone long, two hours maybe." Cloud said. Tifa shook her head.

"Good, that will get me downstairs at prime time and I won't have to stay down there late tonight." Tifa said. Denzel returned with his gloves and his riding glasses.

"I'm ready to go!" Denzel said. Tifa and Cloud got up from the couch and headed to the door. Tifa tugged on the back of Cloud's shirt as Denzel and Marlene hopped along down the stairs. She stopped him and turned his face toward hers.

"Thank you." Tifa said kissing him.

"No…thank you…Tifa." Cloud said. Tifa kissed him again before they continued down the stairway to the back of the apartment building.

"Tifa! When are you going to teach me how to bartend?" Marlene asked.

"Marlene! You're ten!" Cloud scolded her. Marlene laughed. "Tifa _might_ teach you when you're thirty!"

"Cloud!" Marlene said giggling at him.

"Okay, now…wait…alright. What do you do first?" Cloud asked Denzel as he climbed on the Fenrir behind Denzel. Denzal had never ridden in front before.

"I get the key from you!" Denzel said.

"Oh…right…" Cloud said remembering he hadn't given the key to Denzel. Denzel took the key from Cloud and started the ignition.

"Now, read all the gauges to me." Cloud said putting his hands on Denzel's shoulders. Tifa smiled as Denzel did exactly that over the roar of the exhaust. He knew his way around the Fenrir surprisingly well. Cloud wrapped one arm around Denzel because he was honestly still too small for this bike and sheer weight of it would likely throw Denzel around. Cloud waved goodbye to Tifa and Marlene as they took off from behind the building.

"We can walk to the mall, right?" Tifa asked Marlene.

"Of course we can! I put your earrings in my pocket." Marlene said.

"Good, let's go." Tifa said leading Marlene around to the front of the building.


	7. Moving Day

There was an aggressive, incessant pounding at the door. A weary-eyed Tifa clumsily stumbled out of the bedroom startled by the frantic nature of the knocking. She tried to snap herself awake as she unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"Hey! Wow Tifa, you look so tired! I didn't wake you did I! I got really car sick on the way over here. But don't worry I took my pill and I'm better now! Anyway, tell Cloud he's a pain in the ass. Seriously, I don't know how you put up with him! Check it out! The deliveries are coming to you today!" An overly cheerful voice greeted Tifa. It was none other than a very energetic Yuffie. "Are you wearing Cloud's shirt because if you're not its way too big for you."

"Yuffie…its 7:00 in the morning." Tifa said groggily.

"Hey, what's going…oooooh shit….Yuffie…and my stuff." Cloud said emerging from a sound sleep as Tifa felt his head hit her shoulder.

"There you are! I'm going to get another box! Hey, Tifa! When I get back tell me if you got totally wasted for your birthday!" Yuffie said excitedly clambering down the steps.

"It's like she's had four espresso shots, ran two laps and then ate an entire bowl of sugar…" Tifa said yawning.

"She probably did all of those." Cloud said putting his arms around Tifa.

"Let's make some coffee but not let her have any." Tifa said turning around and hugging Cloud. Cloud took a deep breath.

"You're warm." Cloud said. Both Tifa and Cloud flinched at the sound of something crashing in the stairway.

"OH MY GOD! I JUST DROPPED THE MATERIA DOWN THE STAIRS! OOOH IT'S EVERYWHERE!" Yuffie shrieked. "DON'T WORRY! I GOT THIS!" Tifa sighed.

"It's 7:04 in the morning and there is materia in the stairwell…this is barely a three bedroom apartment…there is no room for materia." Tifa said still holding on to Cloud.

"Yeah…you know Yuffie seems to really get off on that kind of thing so why don't we just give her the materia." Cloud said.

"Should we start unpacking that huge box she dropped in the doorway?" Tifa asked rubbing her fingers up and down Cloud's back.

"No…let Yuffie cause more chaos and we'll make a pot of coffee but first I'm going to go close the door on the kids' rooms so Yuffie doesn't wake them as she crashes her way up the stairs." Cloud said kissing Tifa before letting her out of his arms. She proceeded to prepare the coffee pot for it to start dripping. Tifa looked over at the big box standing in the doorway paying no attention to whatever Yuffie was complaining about in the stairwell. She then turned her attention to the money that was lying on the counter that she had thrown there the night before after coming in from the bar. Tifa smiled to herself remembering what a good feeling it was knowing that Cloud was with the kids while she was downstairs. It was even nicer that Cloud had waited up for her. She hadn't even come in last night until 1:30...three hours later than expected. She started counting the gil before her but soon lost track as Yuffie barged into the house with her arms full.

"Hey, it's none of my business and all and I don't really know what's going between you two even though I know what should be. But anyway you have two kids already so why not have one that's _actually_ yours!" Yuffie said stumbling inside with a box of materia in her arms.

"NO." Tifa and Cloud said in unison. He had just returned from the hallway and gotten in on the last part of Yuffie's grand idea.

"No, no more? Okay, we feel pretty strongly about that! Two kids over eight are stressful as hell, huh? Is that why you don't want one of your own? Not that I would know! I'm just guessing here but my god do you two ever get any sleep? Wait…they aren't at that awful no one ever sleeps phase are they? Of course it won't be long before they…" Cloud had to end Yuffie's ridiculous rant now.

"Hey, Yuffie you can just keep that materia." Cloud said calmly.

"What! I can keep it! Oh wow, thanks Cloud! This makes me less pissed at you!" Yuffie exclaimed dropping a bag at her feet and haphazardly slamming a box to the floor.

"That's okay Yuffie it's not like I have anything fragile." Cloud said sarcastically as he observed Yuffie's careless nature with his boxes. The coffee had finally cycled through as Tifa gave up on counting her money. She reached in the cabinet above her and got a mug for both Cloud and herself. She intentionally didn't get a mug for Yuffie.

"Are there any more boxes?" Tifa asked Yuffie as Yuffie counted the materia.

"What? Boxes? Oh, yeah there are two more. Hold on! I'll go get them!" Yuffie dropped the material in a loud thud and hurried back down the stairs.

"Something tells me we are going to be awhile unpacking you." Tifa said looking at the bags and boxes that Yuffie had thrown everywhere.

"Yeah it…won't be easy. I'm worried though that she brought useless crap I didn't want. If she did I swear she's taking it with her." Cloud said feeling certain that Yuffie had brought useless stuff.

"Okay here we go! These are the last two and man are they heavy!" Yuffie said slamming them into the floor.

"Well, so much for Denzel and Marlene sleeping in this morning." Cloud muttered to Tifa.

"Seriously, Tifa! You are one hell of a woman to put up with him! Cloud, what finally made you realize how good you've got it here? Hey, can I have some of that coffee with you? Oh, I think one of your kids are up. That's really early are they always up this early?" Yuffie rambled on. Tifa looked at Cloud who had the same expression on his face as hers.

"Yuffie, you don't leave until every one of those boxes is opened and I know what is in them." Cloud said.

"You never said anything about unpacking, Cloud! I was just supposed to get the boxes here…by the way one of them got wet…I don't know what's in it." Yuffie said drinking up her coffee much too fast that she was not supposed to have.

"Hey! Your stuff is here." Denzel said rubbing his eyes and walking over to Cloud's side where he was sitting on the barstool. Cloud put an arm around Denzel.

"It is here, you want to help unpack after your breakfast?" Cloud asked him. Denzel shook his head yes.

"Do you want some juice and toast?" Tifa asked Denzel.

"Yeah!" Denzel answered trying to fit on the barstool with Cloud. That was completely unsuccessful so Cloud put Denzel on his lap. Tifa shoved a juice pouch toward Denzel and Cloud watched as he effortlessly punched the straw in it. Tifa searched for the toaster underneath the sink and pulled it out.

"Denzel will you count that money?" Tifa asked him nodding to the pile.

"Okay." Denzel said starting to count the money in front of him.

"Tifa, give me a knife or something and I'll rip into one of these!" Yuffie said.

"Okay, but please don't destroy the box, Yuffie. We may need it." Tifa said handing Yuffie a kitchen knife. One ripping sound later a mountain of stuff tumbled into the floor. "No wonder that box was so heavy! It was filled to the max!" Yuffie said looking at the mountain of clothes and books and magazines and whatever else that spilled out of the box.

"Oh my god…I really should have gone through all of this first. Denzel, finish counting that money and eat your breakfast. I have work to do. Who packed this up so…horribly?" Cloud asked taking the box from Yuffie and dragging it to the middle of the floor.

"I packed everything and I did a great job thank you very much!' Yuffie said.

"Alright, this is a trash box and half of this is getting thrown out." Cloud said.

"But I just brought it over here!" Yuffie argued.

"I know…but I should have gone through everything before you packed it up." Cloud said pitching one thing after the other into the now empty box.

"217, Tifa." Denzel said now that he was finished counting.

"Great, thank you. Here's your toast." Tifa said pushing a plate with two slices of toast on it toward Denzel. She figured she would swim in this sea of stuff as Yuffie ripped open another box.

"Oh my god these clothes smell like smoke, cardboard and gross." Tifa said throwing them toward the hall realizing that they would be doing a hell of a lot of laundry today.

"About that…you have a lot of clothes do you know that! I mean, when I was packing this stuff up I couldn't believe how much you have!" Yuffie said tearing the end out of another box. Unfortunately that box was full of tools that went crashing to the kitchen floor. "Crap…I think I may have woken your other kid." Yuffie said staring at the mess she had made.

"Oh, you think Marlene might get out of bed after that one?" Cloud asked her sarcastically. "Did you just spill what I think you spilled? Were those my tools? Those go out back, they are for the bike only. Denzel, when you are done eating will you pick all of those up and put them in the box Yuffie just opened?" Cloud asked of him. Denzel shook his head yes.

Tifa now had a very large pile ready for the laundry. Marlene peeked her face out from behind the door in her bedroom. "Good morning." Tifa called to her. Marlene smiled.

"Morning! Cloud must be unpacking because someone is being really loud out here." Marlene said coming into the living room where Yuffie had turned life upside down.

"Can you fix your own breakfast? I need to get this laundry started." Tifa asked Marlene.

"I can fix it." Marlene said.

By 8:00 the kitchen was finally cleared of all the stuff Yuffie had dropped in the doorway and by 8:45 Cloud and Tifa had managed to get rid of Yuffie. There was still a mountain of putting away of things to do and there was a box of Zack's things that was particularly hard for Cloud to go through. Tifa almost took the box from him and put it in a closet for later but she didn't. There was a picture of Zack with Aerith wrapped in his arms that would surely be hung somewhere in this apartment and so many other things that belonged to Zack. It was probably best that Cloud deal with that box now so it wouldn't haunt him like the rest of his life had. He couldn't help but smile when he thought about how Zack would react if he knew Cloud had _finally_ moved in with Tifa. Zack would likely have smacked him and said it's about time!

By that afternoon the living room floor was visible again and Tifa and Marlene were trying to cram all of Cloud's clothes in the closet of their bedroom. It hadn't worked out well at all since this closet was now about to explode. Denzel had been a huge help carrying stuff to the back of the apartment. It wasn't a garage but it was an area attached to the building that had a roof over it and now it was littered with a hundred tools all for the purpose of working on this bike. It was nice seeing this space filled now. It had been a full day of hard work and everyone was exhausted.

It was now 6:00 that evening. Marlene was in her room listening to the radio and doing whatever else it was she was into. Denzel was in his room trying to clear out a space so he could get that turtle he wanted. Cloud and Tifa were laying on the couch. The TV droned on the background. Neither of them were paying much attention to it.

"It's a really pleasant evening. You want to go for a ride? The kids will be okay here for twenty or thirty minutes." Cloud asked of Tifa.

"Yeah, let's do that but we need to do it now before I get too sleepy." Tifa said getting up from the couch. She walked into Marlene's room.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Tifa asked sitting on Marlene's bed.

"Making a cover page for my science notebook." Marlene said as Tifa pulled Marlene's braided hair away from her neck.

"It looks nice; what you've done so far. Will you and Denzel be okay for a little while and if me and Cloud leave for a few minutes?" Tifa asked.

"Uh huh, you don't have to worry about us." Marlene said smiling.

"You or Denzel can put some chicken nuggets in the oven while we're gone okay? I'm going to lock the door when we leave. You don't answer it, okay?" Tifa cautioned Marlene. Tifa had been through this speech a hundred times with the kids; it wasn't like they were going to answer the door and let some mass murderer or pedophile in!

"I know!" Marlene said resuming her work on her science notebook. Tifa laughed at her and left the room. She assumed that Cloud had gone to tell Denzel they were leaving. Tifa knew they were both old enough to stay in the apartment by themselves but she still worried about them. Tifa smiled to herself wondering what Aerith would think of all this. She could see Aerith now, scolding Tifa for leaving these kids alone in an apartment full of knives and cleaning products! Tifa looked at the picture Cloud had found of Zack and Aerith. "You hush; you would have been a hover mom and you know it!" Tifa said to the picture.

It had been a long time since Tifa was last on the back of this bike with Cloud. The only difference is that when she often rode with him she used to watch where she put her hands…that was no longer a concern of hers.

Hey everyone! I REALLY would like to do a continuation of this story. I'm reluctant to call it a sequel, it's just that I'm not ready to end here. Anyway, give me some feedback…if I wrote a continuation would you read it? Thanks everybody!


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